I know I haven't been here in awhile but i hate it when life gets in the way! Anyways, tried another "mack's clone" this past weekend and the same thing happened, dough had hardly any rise to it. I checked the yeast and it says it expires aug of 2013; it is kept in the fridge at 39. Took some out and had it sit in the cup for about 30 min then added water and got very little foam so I am guessing that the yeast is bad. On my way to sam's to pick up pork butts for my kielbasi so I'll pick up the Fleishmann's IDY while there. Just wondering, Has anyone used this before? I always used Red Star so I don't know, but I guess it doesn't hurt to try.tom

I know I haven't been here in awhile but i hate it when life gets in the way! Anyways, tried another "mack's clone" this past weekend and the same thing happened, dough had hardly any rise to it. I checked the yeast and it says it expires aug of 2013; it is kept in the fridge at 39. Took some out and had it sit in the cup for about 30 min then added water and got very little foam so I am guessing that the yeast is bad. On my way to sam's to pick up pork butts for my kielbasi so I'll pick up the Fleishmann's IDY while there. Just wondering, Has anyone used this before? I always used Red Star so I don't know, but I guess it doesn't hurt to try.tom

Tom,

I donít know why your Mackís clone dough didnít rise. Usually IDY lasts for a long while when kept in the fridge. I donít add IDY to the water (I add mine to the flour), but guess other members add IDY to water. I have added ADY and fresh cake yeast to the water part of the formula and left them sit for a little until I thought they might be activated. I havenít seen foam though.

Maybe some other members might have better suggestions for you to try.

Wife called at lunch and said we are going to an "italian wine class for dummies" tonight, so I thought why not have pizza before we go! Made the dough and placed it in the sunroom and bam it worked!got a nice rise to it (just now remembered to take pics) so I have a ball of fresh mozz, some campari tomatoes, garlic, going to use the eggplant i mentioned in another post, and will carmelize some onions (no ricotta, didn't have time to make some) and we will see how it turns out. I am using the mack's clone dough but of course the toppings are way out of line for mack's. let you know how it turns out.tom

Wife called at lunch and said we are going to an "italian wine class for dummies" tonight, so I thought why not have pizza before we go! Made the dough and placed it in the sunroom and bam it worked!got a nice rise to it (just now remembered to take pics) so I have a ball of fresh mozz, some campari tomatoes, garlic, going to use the eggplant i mentioned in another post, and will carmelize some onions (no ricotta, didn't have time to make some) and we will see how it turns out. I am using the mack's clone dough but of course the toppings are way out of line for mack's. let you know how it turns out.tom

Tom,

Sounds like fun going to a ďItalian wine class for dummies!Ē I sure doní t know anything about wine, but do like wine.

Glad to hear your Mackís clone dough is fermenting well this time. Your dressings sound great. If you remember post some pictures and tell us how your dough tasted and how it stretched out.

This is it....a little late in posting though. The dough rose nicely and then I added carmelized onions, roasted eggplant, campari tomatoes, fresh mozz and fresh shredded parm. Had to load it in the oven with a pan because the wooden peel split Drizzled evoo afterwards. Turned out great and so were the italian wines after the pizza.tom

This is it....a little late in posting though. The dough rose nicely and then I added carmelized onions, roasted eggplant, campari tomatoes, fresh mozz and fresh shredded parm. Had to load it in the oven with a pan because the wooden peel split Drizzled evoo afterwards. Turned out great and so were the italian wines after the pizza.tom

Tom,

Your dough balls and pizza looked delicious! I like your choice of dressings. What formulation did you use for your dough? If you can could you explain your mixing method and fermentation time if other members are interested in producing your results? Your wines sound great too! Sorry to hear about your wooden peel splitting.

Norma,I used your "mack's clone" dough recipe and I had it sit in my sunroom for 5 hours. I think it should have risen more so I tossed the yeast and opened a new package. Hopefully next time I'll get a better rise. The formula was the one you printed in the forums which I had followed. The crust was a little thinner but nothing was left so there were no complaints. Thanks again for posting it! Now once I get everything the way it is supposed to be I can save the forty dollars or so it costs to drive to wildwood and get my "fix" at home! tom

Norma,I used your "mack's clone" dough recipe and I had it sit in my sunroom for 5 hours. I think it should have risen more so I tossed the yeast and opened a new package. Hopefully next time I'll get a better rise. The formula was the one you printed in the forums which I had followed. The crust was a little thinner but nothing was left so there were no complaints. Thanks again for posting it! Now once I get everything the way it is supposed to be I can save the forty dollars or so it costs to drive to wildwood and get my "fix" at home! tom

Tom,

Thanks for telling me what formulation you used for a Mackís clone. I donít know if you saw on the Boardwalk thread or not, but I had good results with using Peterís formulation for a Mackís pizza clone. I donít know if you saw either, but I had used extra sharp Cracker Barrel white cheddar in my last attempt. I thought the extra sharp Cracker Barrel white cheddar had a taste almost like Mackís.

It would be nice if you could make your own Mackís clone at home. It would save money, especially since gas prices are rising so much.

My daughter was going to the Philadelphia airport today, so she said she would also take me to Bova Foods. I purchased a 42.90 lb. block of the Nasonville cheddar (more on that below), in addition to other items. I looked around for the Gangi sauce and didnít see any. I asked the one young gentleman where the Gangi sauce was. He said they stopped carrying it since it wasnít a popular item. I asked him if Bova didnít carry any of the Gangi sauce in the warehouse either, for wholesale customers, and he said no they stopped carrying any kinds of the Gangi sauce. I told the young gentleman I had purchased the Gangi thick paste sauce at Bova before. He then said he would go look in the warehouse to see if maybe any cans out of a whole box might be left. What he bought out was one can of Gangi Supreme Extra Heavy Concentrate tomato puree. I asked him how much the can was and he discounted it for me. I just hope that when another Mackís pizza is tried the sauce will taste okay.

I didnít open the block of cheddar and place it into smaller plastic bags, but will soon. I donít know how I can go about testing the cheddar to see if it might taste anything like it does when baked on a pizza.

After calling a few distributors, I now think the cheese that Mackís might use is Nasonville cheedar, but wonít be sure until I use some to bake on a pizza. The block of cheddar doesn't have any marking on it that it is Nasonville.

A few more pictures of the markings on the box of Nasonville mild white cheddar and also pictures of how the cheddar cheese was wrapped. There was some kind of stiff edging all around the cheddar block. I had a hard time cutting the cheddar because it was so soft and creamy. The taste of the Nasonville mild white cheddar is much different than any other cheddar I have tasted before. It is even creamier than any mozzarellas I have purchased before and does have a little tang, but does taste a lot like a good mozzarella, without much of a cheddar taste. I am not sure from all the dates on the box and inside the box when the cheese was produced.

This cheddar had no comparisons with the other block of cheddar I had purchased from my distributor. The block I purchased from my distributor was much drier and didnít have much of a taste and it even wanted to crumble.

The one picture is of how much room some of the cheddar took up in my freezer.

I didnít bake any of the block of cheese I purchased today, but wanted to post that after slicing and hacking at the block my hands smelt exactly like outside of Mackís and also how my hands smell after eating a slice of Mackís pizza. If this darn cheedar isnít the right one, I might have to curse.

I might take some sauce and some of the cheddar and try to bake it on some homemade bread later. Maybe that will tell me more.

After I last posted, I did take a piece of homemade bread and got some nondescript tomato sauce out to try. I used Red Pack Tomato Puree with a little added salt, oregano and pepper. I grated enough of the cheddar to see how it melted and also to taste it plain baked on the slice of the bread. The bread pizza was bake at 500 degrees F in my toaster oven. The cheese melted very well and although I am not exactly sure, it was buttery like Mackís cheese and did have a taste almost like Mackís pizza. Some of the extra cheddar on the bread pizza was taken off with a spoon to taste. A better test will be with the Gangi and a real pizza crust.

scott123

Norma, cheese melts/tastes differently when it gets heat only from above vs. heat from below AND above. It might seem like a piece of bread is a good substitute for a pizza skin for testing melted cheese, but it's really not. Cooked bread has most of the water driven off. Without the water, the bread becomes an excellent insulator, so the cheese is only getting heat from above. With raw dough, you have heat from below converting the water into steam, which, in turn rises, melting/bubbling the cheese from below. This is why parbaked crusts never melt the cheese well. It's also why reheated slices tend not to bubble the cheese any further.

Without the heat from below cheese doesn't bubble or cook all the way through. It doesn't give off all it's fat nor does all the flavor come out of it.

In other words, once you get this cheese on a pizza, it will taste very differently than your bread test.

Norma, cheese melts/tastes differently when it gets heat only from above vs. heat from below AND above. It might seem like a piece of bread is a good substitute for a pizza skin for testing melted cheese, but it's really not. Cooked bread has most of the water driven off. Without the water, the bread becomes an excellent insulator, so the cheese is only getting heat from above. With raw dough, you have heat from below converting the water into steam, which, in turn rises, melting/bubbling the cheese from below. This is why parbaked crusts never melt the cheese well. It's also why reheated slices tend not to bubble the cheese any further.

Without the heat from below cheese doesn't bubble or cook all the way through. It doesn't give off all it's fat nor does all the flavor come out of it.

In other words, once you get this cheese on a pizza, it will taste very differently than your bread test.

Scott,

I understand how cheese melts and tastes differently when it baked on a slice of bread like I did. I was just anxious to try the cheese on something to see how it would melt and if that buttery flavor was there. I could have gotten a frozen dough ball out of my freezer and made a real pizza, but didnít want to go though that without trying the Gangi sauce. When tasting a slice of a real Mackís pizza, it canít really be told that the cheddar isnít mozzarella. I always thought, since I was a child, that Mackís just used a different mozzarella to make their pizzas taste unique, but found out while working on the boardwalk thread that all cheddar is used.

The real taste of the cheddar on a pie wonít be known until I make a pizza.

Thanks for explaining to anyone that doesnít know how cheese melts differently on bread or parbaked crusts, so they know I really didnít do an accurate test.

In case anyone is interested in knowing if the Nasonville cheddar I purchased from the distributor is anything like the cheese that can be ordered online at Nasonville Cheese, http://www.nasonvilledairy.com/ I really donít know yet, but did email Nasonville at their contact http://www.nasonvilledairy.com/index.php/contact-us and also at Nasonville on the Wisconsin Dairy Plant Directory at http://datcp.wi.gov/uploads/food/pdf/dairyplantdirectory2011-2012.pdf The picture I posted of the number plant code 55-1499 does match with that code for Nasonville, near the bottom of the above pdf. If anyone is interested in this kind of stuff in the 3rd section it is useful when tracing the origin of a cheese or dairy product. With 470 diary plants operating in the State of Wisconsin all are first designated with a prefix of 55. It gives each plant number, legal name, city and county. The other email contact is listed somewhere on the pdf.